Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association

Please help us welcome Tate Hicks to the PRCA family! He is joining the properties department as the Brand Marketing and Sponsorship Fulfillment Coordinator. Tate Hicks is a Colorado Springs native and Air Force veteran. After spending all six of his military years at McGuire AFB, NJ, as a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III maintainer, he returned home to finish school at UCCS, where he completed his bachelor of science in business with an emphasis in marketing. In his off time, he's usually watching baseball, hockey, or college football, depending on the season. Hicks is excited for this new opportunity to work with PRCA and help expand the brand and the sport to new audiences as well as reach out to and assist in creating more engaging opportunities with long-time and lifelong fans and athletes. Welcome, Tate!

Highwaymen: Team ropers Buddy Hawkins, J.C. Yeahquo making the most of loaded rodeo slate. https://bit.ly/4cDHiXH "Highwaymen" is the newest PRORODEO Films feature that follows cowboys as they trek along the rodeo trail. The first rendition features Buddy Hawkins II and J.C. Yeahquo. Click the link above to read the story and watch what it's like to travel 1,300 miles to compete in five rodeos within one weekend. #WeArePRORODEO

An incredible week for our Association. We started with an exciting announcement extending our NFR agreement with Las Vegas Events, continued the momentum with Colorado Springs and the NFR Open, and then finished with a Leadership off-site meeting hosted by our partners at Cinch. Proper planning gives our membership the best chance at future success and this week has been important in helping continue to solidify our foundations. We Are PRORODEO.

The PRCA would like to congratulate Gina Wiseman on her retirement. Wiseman worked at PRCA from September 2021 to June 2024 as the Controller in the Finance Department. Gina was born in North Pole, Alaska. Her Bachelor of Science in Accounting was from the University of North Carolina. During her years there, the school newspaper published a ‘Top 10 Students to Know at UNC; Gina was one of the 10, along with Michael Jordan being another. When she moved to Colorado Springs in 1993, she worked in many leadership roles for PRCA, Peak Vista CHC, and Mountain View Medical, where she was often seen as the go-to person for difficult analysis. As Gina enters retirement, she will focus on time with family, traveling, and putting together that “impossible” jigsaw puzzle.

PRCA, Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Sign Seven-Year Contract Extension to Keep NFR Open in Colorado Springs, CO. Read here >>> https://bit.ly/4chD9sm

Please help us welcome Jerah Walter to the PRCA as he joins the IT Department as a Senior Programmer! Having lived most of his life in Colorado, Jerah moved to Colorado Springs five years ago. His first rodeo experience was when he lived in Greeley and attended the Greeley Stampede. For the last sixteen years, Jerah has worked in the pay-TV industry at DISH Network, supporting the CFO organization by doing development work for process improvements, reporting, and customer support. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two little girls and taking them out to explore all that Colorado has to offer. He is very excited to work more with the Microsoft tech stack and support the PRCA as a Senior Programmer.

LAS VEGAS (June 17, 2024) – The National Finals Rodeo has a home in Las Vegas for the next 12 years and the contract is a financial boon with more than a quarter of a billion dollars committed to the contestants and stock contractors through 2035. Las Vegas Events and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association jointly announced today the financial details of the agreement that will keep the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas through 2035. Over the term of the contract, the total payment to the contestants and stock contractors will be $264,323,473. Las Vegas' commitment to the NFR is the richest in the sport's long and distinguished history. The new agreement will begin in 2024, replacing the previous contract that was scheduled to expire in 2025. Las Vegas Events will guarantee an additional $1.3 million in contestant purse and stock contractor compensation in 2024 and 2025, as a signing bonus to the PRCA For the 2024 NFR, the prize money for contestants will be $12,501,505 and stock contractors will receive $3,750,451 – making the payout amount of $16.2 million, which includes guaranteed prize money of $1.2 million for NFR qualifiers. In 2025, the prize money for both will increase to more than $17.5 million – $13,501,505 to contestants and $4,050,451 to stock contractors. In each subsequent year through 2035, the contestant purse and compensation to stock contractors will increase by $1 million ($769,231 and $230,769, respectively). By the end of the contract in 2035, the total payout to the contestants and stock contractors will be more than $27.5 million. There also will be annual salary increases for contract personnel. Additional elements of the agreement include a season-long marketing program and an official designation as an Official Sponsor of the PRCA, National Finals Steer Roping, NFR Open and presenting sponsorships of the 12 National Circuit Finals Rodeos. "Las Vegas is the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World and a great home for the National Finals Rodeo," PRCA CEO Tom Glause said. "This is a landmark agreement for the PRCA that benefits every PRCA member — contestants, stock contractors, committees, and contract personnel. This agreement will advance and help the sport continue to grow and provide security for the future." Bill McBeath, chairman of the Las Vegas Events Board of Trustees, also was excited to get this deal done. "After working with the PRCA and their representatives for nearly two years, I am pleased with our efforts to secure Las Vegas as the home to the world's richest and most prestigious rodeo through 2035," McBeath said. "For nearly 40 years, Las Vegas has built a strong partnership with the PRCA and its contestants and stock contractors. We feel that the new agreement is beneficial to all parties and clearly demonstrates the commitment that Las Vegas has to the NFR and the sport of rodeo." Keep reading >>> https://bit.ly/3XmKC5b

Wildwood, Alberta, is not the type of town where you get lost. As saddle bronc star Logan Hay tells it, there is a gas station and a post office. "Blink," said Hay, who hails from there, "and you will miss it." The same holds true for Hay's excellence. In 16 seconds, he put together a pair of outstanding rides, ultimately capturing the Wildwood Bronc Bustin' title with a 92.5-point trip on Calgary Stampede's Exotic Warrior Saturday night. It represented Hay's high score of the season, this X-Broncs win providing momentum as he seeks to return to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo after missing a year ago because of an injury. "I was pretty pumped when I saw what I had. I got on her at the Canadian Finals. She's a 6-year-old, who has been outstanding her whole life. But she's very unpredictable," Hay said. "Last time I was on her, it was a lot of ducks and dives. This time, she kind of stalled out of the chute and was really bucking after that. It probably looked prettier than it felt." Hay found himself in a strong position after a 90-point ride on his first attempt. It left him going last in the short round. Except for this: there were five 89 scores in front of him. Did we mention that his father Rod Hay also won this event several years ago? Rod qualified 20 times for the NFR (1989-90, 1992-2008, 2010).   No pressure or anything. "Everyone stepped out and showed out. It was a great finish. I had to step out when it was my turn. To do this means a lot. This is where I grew up. I went to school from kindergarten to Grade 9 here," said Hay, who currently is in the Top 10 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. "To win where Roddy won, man, it's great.."   For Logan, rodeo is a lifestyle. He has never known anything else, and now enjoys competing with his brother Dawson on the ProRodeo circuit. May and June allow the family to focus on hitting Canadian rodeos before heading to the states for a big summer push. "These XBroncs events bring out the best in all of us," Hay said. "I have a place about 10 minutes from here. It's kind of a nice reset. Then comes late June and July and we won't see the house again until August. But I love everything about it. And on a night like this, when you get off the horse after two 90s, there's not a better feeling." https://bit.ly/3VLedEg

Keenan Hayes kept his prep work ahead of Friday's bareback ride at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in Vernal, Utah, very simple.    Hayes pulled up videos of the last two cowboys to ride Powder River Rodeo bucking horse Misdemeanor, looking to see what insight he could gleam. It didn't take long for the Hayden, Colo., native to figure out what he needed to do.    "It kind of looked like she wanted to be good. The last two guys that had been on her kind of missed her neck and let her get long," Hayes said. "So, I just tried to mark her out and hit her hard and it ended up working out."   For Hayes, the 90-point ride was good enough to win the rodeo and collect $4,759 in earnings. It also continued a string of money-worthy rides that has the defending world champion right where he wants to be – atop the PRCA | RAM World Standings heading into the summer schedule.    Since the calendar flipped from May to June, Hayes has been piling up positive outcomes to keep his spot at the front of the bareback riding pack. To start the month, he won the Home of the Navajo PRCA Rodeo, sparking the run he's currently on.    Hayes has competed in nine rodeos so far, picking up money at eight of them. In all, he's earned more than $19,000 at the halfway point of June, making him the first bareback rider to clear $100,000 in earnings this season and keeping Hayes about $5,000 ahead of Cooper Cooke in the world standings.    During the winter, Hayes built his ledger by securing a lot of money at some of the biggest indoor events, including Denver, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. Aside from those more notable rodeos, he kept his schedule fairly light, opting for a few higher-paying rodeos in the winter before kicking things up in the spring.    That's left Hayes in a good spot for the summer. His rodeo count is still fairly low, allowing him to ride just about wherever and whenever he wants the rest of the way.    And for a guy trying to become the first back-to-back world bareback riding champion since Kaycee Feild in 2020 and 2021, staying consistent and riding on the regular is exactly the approach he wants to take.    "I've just been going and getting on everything. I'm kind of just trying out everything and it's been working good in some places and some places not so much," Hayes said. "I've kind of been saving all my rodeo count through this whole winter, so I can kind of go out to all these little deals and try them out to see if they work out – and sometimes they do."   Read more >>> https://bit.ly/3XKauIz

Get ready, PRORODEO fans! This 10-part series takes you through every thrilling round of the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Don't miss a moment of the excitement, the drama, and the ride of a lifetime. Hit the notification bell and subscribe to the PRORODEO YouTube channel to relive every round of the NFR on September 27! #WeArePRORODEO